Hi Kunio, Archaic or accurate?
The English KJV seems "old-fashioned" to many modern readers for several reasons: (a) the use of second person singular pronouns, etc. (b) some English words are now archaic, with some even having changed meanings over time (c) the huge expansion of the number of words in the English language since it was first published. ... Yet reason (a) is often misunderstood. The KJV was written in "Biblical English", in which pronouns such as Thou, Thee, and the related verb conjugations and adjectives were already out of common usage in 1611, except in some English counties (e.g. Yorkshire). Second person singular was used by the translators to distinguish from second person plural in all the places where the original languages had the same distinction. Just one example, Luke 22: 31 ¶ And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Passages like this can only be properly understood in translation if the referents for the pronouns are not confused. You is plural (all the Twelve), thee/thy/thou is singular (Simon alone). Modern English translations that use second person plural throughout make this more difficult for the readers and the preacher. David -- View this message in context: http://n4.nabble.com/Open-Japanese-Collaborative-Bible-Translation-was-Re-New-subscriber-s-first-post-introduction-projec-tp1819523p1835317.html Sent from the SWORD Dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ sword-devel mailing list: [email protected] http://www.crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel Instructions to unsubscribe/change your settings at above page
